“We heard it’s a fun time,” said Clay Hicks who drove with several friends from Indiana University.

“We rented a house with a pool and jacuzzi for $4,000,” said Seana Brannon who added that there were 13 people staying at the home.

Nikki Grossman, with the Greater Ft. Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau, said while the number of spring breakers has been steady over the past five years, it is nothing compared to the heyday of thirty years ago.

“The day it ended was 1985 when we had 380 thousand college students,” said Grossman.

She estimated that this year the there will be about 12,000 college students staying in the Greater Ft. Lauderdale area.

“There is no MTV, no beer parties on the beach. These people want a different kind of Spring Break,” said Grossman.

For some businesses along the beach Spring Break means more dollars.

One of the managers of the CROC store at Beach Place said there has been an uptick in business and the teens are not rowdy like in the past.

“It seems more calm. They are just kids having a good time,” said Sean Besenfeoder.

Managers of high end restaurants fear the Spring Break crowds sometimes dissuade people who live in the western parts of Broward County from coming to the beach.

“And the people on the cruise ships avoid the beach because they don’t want to deal with the overcrowded hotel rooms and the noise,” one restaurant manager told CBS4.

Joan Murray

Joan Murray is an award winning reporter who joined CBS Miami in August 2001 shortly before the September 11th attacks. She was among the first to report the South Florida connection to the terrorists.
In her many years reporting in South Florida...